The Christmas recipe and cooking tips thread.....

[Gerry Attrick]

Oh just mucked up my last thread. As I was saying, there is no substitute for goose fat. Use good floury spuds and par boil 'em for about 8 minutes. In the meantime , heat your goose fat in the oven to 220C/mark 7 in a shallow roasting tin until smoking. Let the drained spuds dry in the open hot saucepan then put a lid on and give 'em a good shake to roughen the surface. Bung 'em in the hot fat and baiste 'em well and leave 'em for about 30-40 minutes or until they are well browned. They might need turning a few times. This is foolproof, honest.

Any surplus goosefat, once cold, can be used to anoint your significant other half's chest when he/she has a cold. Probably won't help him/her, but will make you feel better!

 

[Gerry Attrick]

What the heck is happening to this forum? My "lost" message just re-appeared!

 

[Panter]

Ok, quick tip here.

When roasting the chestnuts for Petes cake in the first post, you may stumble across the chestnut roasting advice that I did which consists of scoring a cross on top of the chestnuts and then roasting at gas mark 6 for 30mins.

Don't do as I do and assume that the cross is not really needed.
They do explode without it

Also, when you've opened the oven door and removed them to cool, they carry on exploding for quite some time only without the confines of the oven to contain the blast.

Merry Christmas all

 

[Aperitif]

Ok, quick tip here.

When roasting the chestnuts for Petes cake in the first post, you may stumble across the chestnut roasting advice that I did which consists of scoring a cross on top of the chestnuts and then roasting at gas mark 6 for 30mins.

Don't do as I do and assume that the cross is not really needed.
They do explode without it

Also, when you've opened the oven door and removed them to cool, they carry on exploding for quite some time only without the confines of the oven to contain the blast.

Merry Christmas all

In France they never seem to blow their nuts...it has something to do with slicing the pointy bit off the top - no criss crossing, stabbing etc - it works!

 

[Panter]

Noted for next time, thank you

 

[Pete]

Just noticed this chestnutty wisdom added - chestnuts seem to be good, plentiful and cheap this year, so any other tips?

My method is to rinse them and make a deep crosswise cut in each nut - helps to spread the heat more thoroughly and also you can quickly spot any bad nuts* before they go in the pan.

Use an old, preferably iron, saucepan with a lid, dedicated to the job - you will wreck a good pan. Fill with about 1/2 cm of water and pile in the nuts - not too many, about 20 at a time. Bring to the boil and allow the water to boil dry. After the water has gone, turn up the heat and continue roasting, shaking the pan vigorously at times. The nuts are done when they are golden-yellow, beginning to char, and pop easily out of the shells, the brown skin coming away with the shell not sticking to the nut.

But if anyone has a better technique I'd be interested. I love the things.

*plenty of opportunities for puns and saucy innuendos!